Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Deputy Speaker for this guidance. But serious allegations have been made against this minister, and we know that the Liberal Party treats them seriously as well because none other than the Treasurer has ordered an investigation into the Victorian branch of his own party; none other than the Treasurer is consulting with colleagues to see whether an investigation and then a takeover of the Victorian branch is warranted because of the behaviour of the member for Deakin. I can understand why members opposite find this very hard to hear. They find it very hard to hear—and so do the people of Australia.

If you are looking for a standard to judge this behaviour by, look to the standard set by the Prime Minister, because, in July this year, he called it 'corruption'—corruption on an industrial scale. It might be hard to hear, but, if this is the test of leadership, if this is the test that the Prime Minister has set for this parliament, then he must apply it to the member for Deakin. When similar events occurred in Victoria, the Premier sacked the responsible minister before lunchtime. I don't think decency and swift action should be the exclusive domain of the Australian Labor Party. John Howard would have wasted no time sacking this bloke and the aged care minister at the same time. They'd have been out the door before lunchtime. He is the minister responsible for tax law in this country, but he has shown contempt for taxpayers and contempt for the law. He has to go. There is no shortage of government backbenchers who would happily take his job. None of them could do a good job, but few of them could do a worse job than the member for Deakin. I've had my disagreements with the member for Goldstein, but there's no doubt he's been spending the last two years polishing his CV as well. No wonder the member for Goldstein is a little bit nervous; the member for Deakin has been spending more than a little bit of energy trying to shoehorn him out of the seat he's in.

There should be no place for the member for Deakin on the front bench in this House. He's been responsible for the Australian tax office, but he's led Australians to believe they can have no trust in the way he administers taxpayer funds in his own office. A corruption-busting QC had this to say on national television this week: 'He should be sacked. There is a prima facie case of crime. He should be sacked.' What is the Prime Minister waiting for? It's not as if he's protecting a minister who's had a sterling career in this place and has contributed to a body of public policy. It's not as if he's an invaluable colleague who's contributed to the front bench.

This guy has the Midas touch in reverse: everything he's touched—well, it hasn't turned to gold, that's for sure! He's responsible for the administration of the superannuation early access scheme. On his own watch, that scheme has seen millions of dollars stolen, fraudulently, from some of the lowest-paid people in this country. He froze the operation of the scheme for a few days, but not one single cent has been paid in compensation from the Commonwealth to those members who have had their money stolen from them because of the operation of this scheme and the hopeless administration of this hapless minister.

As the member for Blaxland reminds us, the member for Deakin is responsible for the HomeBuilder scheme. If jobs were created by press releases then every builder in this country would be in full employment. But not one single dollar has been paid out under this scheme. So if the Prime Minister is going to expect this House to play a Team Australia moment he should do the right thing and sack this minister who has done everything within his power to bring disgrace upon this House and every single one of us. (Time expired)

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